Vegas Golden Knights Inaugural Season Final Grades: Reilly Smith
Reilly Smith has resurrected his career during his time with the Vegas Golden Knights.
Fans, media and everyone else in between set expectations low for the Vegas Golden Knights. In 2017-18. However, the team and coaching staff had different ideas and turned the tables on the entire NHL. The Golden Knights went out and proved everyone wrong in their very first campaign.
Just about every single player on the Golden Knights roster went above and beyond expectations. Every player bought into Gerard Gallant’s fast transition style of play, and it worked to near perfection. On VegasHockeyKnight.com, we will go over each player with an in-depth analysis and give them a grade based upon their performance during the Golden Knights inaugural season.
We already talked about two-thirds of the Vegas first line, but now its time to talk about the trio’s biggest two-way threat. Reilly Smith disappointed in his time with Boston and Florida, however, he has shined instantly with the Golden Knights. Let’s take a look at the year the Toronto, Ontario native had in the Golden Knights inaugural season.
Let’s go back to the expansion draft in June. Smith and Jonathan Marchessault went to Vegas from Florida from a fourth-round pick. That’s right, just a fourth-round pick for two out of the three of Vegas’ best offensive threats.
Smith was always a great two-way player from his time with the Bruins and Panthers. Although he hasn’t lived up to the contract, he was given due to inconsistent offense performance. The numbers proved that in 2016-17.
Smith played in 80 games total in 2016-17, notched just 16 goals, 22 assists and 37 points with a -13 rating. Sure enough, that was the 27-year old’s most disappointing season of his entire career. That all changed when he switched sides for the second time in his professional career.
In 67 games played in 2017-18, Smith scored 22 goals, 38 assists and 60 points for the Golden Knights. Playing with players such as Marchessault and William Karlsson indeed attributed to his success. But he had no bigger believer in him than head coach Gerard Gallant.
Gallant coached Smith for good chunk of time down in Florida, so he knew what he had when he joined Vegas in the expansion draft. Smith always had a mind for taking care of the puck. It’s very rare to see Smith turn over the puck and that’s why the coaching staff loves him so much.
Furthermore, Smith is one of the best defensive forwards in the Western Conference. He always makes the safe play, and it’s unusual to see him out of position. And for him to pick up his offensive game, it proved to be crucial to the success of the Golden Knights.
Smith also had a hell of a run during the 2018 Stanley Cup Playoffs. He came up large for the Golden Knights by totaling five goals, 17 assists and 22 points in 20 postseason games played. His shining moment during the playoffs was his goal against the Winnipeg Jets in game four of the Western Conference Finals.
Grade: A-
Next: Vegas Golden Knights: Marc-Andre Fleury Signs Three-Year Extension
All in all, Reilly Smith deserves an “A-” for his effort from all the areas of the ice and his uptick in offensive production. And before you ask, yes, Smith can still improve his offensive numbers next season.